Stir Fry Spaghetti
Aperçu
Stir fried spaghetti is a fixture of contemporary Nigerian home cooking, and it is a genuinely hybrid dish rather than an imported one. Spaghetti is cooked, then returned to a hot pan with vegetables, sausage or shredded chicken and a sauce built on curry powder, ginger, garlic, soy sauce and chicken bouillon, and finished with a cornstarch slurry. The combination is worth reading carefully. Curry powder and chicken bouillon are Nigerian pantry staples, used across the country's cooking in quantities that would surprise anyone outside it. Soy sauce and the stir fry technique come from East Asian cooking, which reached Nigerian kitchens through cookbooks, restaurants and television rather than through migration. Sausage, cabbage and carrot are what is cheap and available. The result belongs to Lagos and Abuja kitchens in the 2010s and 2020s. The source for this recipe provides no cultural context at all and no country, so what can be said about its lineage rests on the ingredients rather than on any documentation. It is presented here as what it is: a quick, flexible, modern dish that Nigerians make regularly, not an inherited preparation with a documented history. Spaghetti is now among the most eaten starches in urban Nigeria, and dishes like this are how it got there.
Ingrédients
Préparation
- 1
Cook the spaghetti in a pot of boiling salted water. Drain and set aside.
- 2
Mix together the ginger, chicken seasoning, curry powder, salt, soy sauce, chopped garlic and crumbled chicken bouillon. Set this sauce aside.
- 3
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium high heat. Add the sliced sausages and cook until lightly browned. Remove and set aside.
- 4
Add another tablespoon of oil and stir fry the carrots, cabbage and green bell pepper until tender crisp. Remove and set aside with the sausages.
- 5
Add the chopped onions and pepper flakes. Fry until the onions are translucent and slightly caramelised.
- 6
Return the sausages and vegetables to the pan with the onions. Pour in the prepared sauce and mix until everything is coated.
- 7
Dissolve the cornstarch in 2 tablespoons of water to make a slurry. Pour it in and stir until the sauce thickens and coats everything evenly.
- 8
Add the cooked spaghetti. Stir to combine, making sure the sauce coats the strands thoroughly.
- 9
Once everything is combined and heated through, transfer to a serving dish and serve hot.
Notes de l’Africook
Notes personnelles de Sobecooks- Undercook the spaghetti by a minute or two. It continues cooking in the pan, and pasta boiled to soft turns to paste once it is stir fried.
- Cook the components separately and combine at the end. Everything in the pan at once steams instead of frying and the vegetables go limp.
- Keep the heat high for the vegetables. Tender crisp is the target, and low heat draws out water and gives you boiled cabbage.
- Mix the cornstarch with cold water before it goes in. Added dry it will seize into lumps immediately.
- It is flexible by design: any pasta shape, any protein, whatever vegetables are in the house. Rice noodles work as well as spaghetti.
Questions fréquentes
Is this a traditional Nigerian dish?
No, and it should not be presented as one. It is a contemporary Nigerian home cooking dish that combines Nigerian pantry staples such as curry powder and chicken bouillon with an East Asian stir fry technique and soy sauce. Spaghetti is now among the most eaten starches in urban Nigeria, and dishes like this are part of how that happened.
Can I use a different pasta or protein?
Yes, and the dish is built for it. Any pasta shape works, and rice noodles are a common substitution. Shredded chicken, sausage, beef, prawns or a mix all suit it, and it works without meat if you increase the vegetables and use a vegetable bouillon. The sauce is what holds it together.
Why is my stir fry spaghetti soggy?
The pasta was overcooked, or everything went into the pan at once. Undercook the spaghetti slightly, since it finishes in the pan, and cook the sausage, vegetables and aromatics in separate stages over high heat. Crowding the pan drops the temperature and the vegetables release water instead of frying.
What is stir fry spaghetti served with?
It is a complete meal on its own, which is most of its appeal on a weeknight. A fresh salad, spring rolls or fried plantain are the usual additions when it is being served to guests. It reheats reasonably well, though the vegetables soften on the second day.
Avis
3 avis
Vous Aimerez Aussi
Kenkey
Boeber (Cape Malay Sweet Milk Drink)
Kafteji
Made this for dinner yesterday. The blend of soy sauce and curry gave the spaghetti a nice dark color and sweet aroma, but 1 full tablespoon of pepper flakes was way too spicy for my kids o! I had to pick out the shredded chicken and sausages for them to eat alone. Next time I will reduce the pepper flakes to half spoon sha.
Used smoked kielbasa from Giant cause I could not get to the African store on Security Blvd for Nigerian beef sausages, but that soy sauce and curry powder mix still hit the spot! Reminded me so much of hostel stir fry spag back in Unilag. My kids loved the crunch from the cabbage and carrots o.
chale this recipe is good but herh, you didn't fry fresh green pepper with the onions? In Takoradi here we always add fresh ground pepper right before the cabbage and carrots go in so the spicy oil coats the spaghetti paa. Still turned out very nice with the sausage combination oo.